A High Diversity Time of YearOne of the best things about spring and early summer in the Adirondacks is the diversity of birds that can be found in our area during a simple walk. My walks are almost always taken with Wren who wants nothing more than to run, play, and swim all the time. More than that, her high energy level requires that I take her out regularly and I am compelled to go out even... [Read More]

The State Of New York“Blah blah blah?”“Blah blah.”It was a slow day at work. I had been wiping down the same 10 square feet of counter space for the last two hours, half listening to my co-workers discussing plans for the weekend. It was not until I heard “blah blah Adirondack-” that I started paying attention. I whipped around like a dog who has just heard the word “walk,” every atom now attuned... [Read More]

Golf and the Adirondacks have had a long and passionate relationship. By the turn of the 19th century, luxury resorts and Great Camps were springing up all over the Adirondack Park. Golf courses soon followed, and Saranac Lake has just the right kind of terrain.Golf in the United States can be traced back to 1828, when Charles B. Macdonald returned from college in Scotland with a set of... [Read More]

It’s a beautiful summer afternoon, and you want to spend the evening outside socializing and seeing some great music while you’re at it. You’re in luck! Saranac Lake has some great options for summer music!The Party on the Patio series at the Waterhole is the cornerstone of Saranac Lake’s summer music offerings. Each Thursday, the Waterhole has free music from 6 to 10 p.m. on their outdoor patio... [Read More]

Saranac Lake is a great place to stretch that vacation dollar. Our corner of the Adirondacks has many ways to help anyone have lots of fun, either for free or as a darned good bargain.Remember, the Adirondack Park has no admission fee!Pitch YOUR OWNOur vast wilderness offers one way of combining luxurious grandeur and inexpensive accommodation. Back-country camping requires a setting at... [Read More]

The area around Saranac Lake is known as the Lake Country of the Adirondacks. Since the whole Park is known for its lakes, what makes us so very special?I'm happy to tell you. There are five good reasons we proudly bear that title. 1. PaddlingWe are a Paddler's Paradise because of our terrain. That must have been some giant glacier. Parts of the Adirondacks were shaped by deep gouges that... [Read More]

Ringing Telephones in My YardI’ve been waking each morning of late to the jingling song of Dark-eyed Juncos which have been filling my yard and gorging on bird seed. I kept a few juncos around through much of the winter, but as spring has pushed in from the south they have followed in numbers. Then a new song was added to their ringing telephone chorus early last week. A Fox Sparrow – a migrant... [Read More]

Spring in the Adirondacks is a wild, overlooked, season. Saranac Lake has many attractions which shine in this special gap between winter and summer. It might not be the first place a person thinks of when the idea of spring break occurs to them, but it can be the last... because there are many good reasons to fit a spring trip to the Adirondacks into our schedule.It can be worth dodging some... [Read More]

The Battle of the SeasonsThe past few weeks have seen the sun and winter battle for supremacy across our region. The sun’s rays on longer days have been beautifully warm, and yet our skiing base has stayed strong thanks to consistently chilly temps and cold nights. The result has been great cross-country skiing. While trail skiing comes and goes and has been icy and largely un-skiable of late,... [Read More]

A Crew of Students from SyracuseThe birding club from SUNY-ESF in Syracuse came up this past weekend to look for Adirondack birds with me. I teach Field Ornithology courses for ESF at Cranberry Lake Bio Station during the summer and I’m always excited to see folks again. We met in Bloomingdale Bog where the group was having difficulty attracting the attention of any Gray Jays near the feeders. So... [Read More]

This vacation, bring the dog. Because Saranac Lake is a dog-friendly place. Wilderness is even more enjoyable with four-legged companionship. If we have ever wondered what it would be like to really wear out our dog, one of our hikes or a paddling visit to an island will let us lean back and watch as they explore every fascinating scent... and we have are a lot of them.  Our immediate... [Read More]

If you've got Cabin Fever, the only prescription is... Saranac Lake!Cabin Fever was first officially called that back in 1838. It describes the psychological reaction to being cooped up indoors without interesting things to do. Irritability, restlessness, listlessness, and even paranoia can be symptoms of Cabin Fever. According to a paper in Psychological Science, February 2008, it can... [Read More]

Jackrabbit Trail Day 3 of 3:Lake Placid Pub & Brewery to Old Mountain RoadDay three of our three-day cross-country ski tour from Paul Smiths to Keene found us at the Jackrabbit trailhead behind the Lake Placid Pub & Brewery. We were looking forward to finishing off this trail with what we've heard are probably a few of the best sections. If you are just catching up with our adventure, be... [Read More]

The Jackrabbit Ski Trail--Day 2Day one of our cross-country ski trip on the Jackrabbit Trail had us travel from Paul Smiths to McKenzie Pond Road. It was now a week later, and we were now looking at day two. For this, we decided to go with a much shorter day that would get us from McKenzie Pond Road to the village of Lake Placid. Doesn’t seem like much when you put it that way, but it will... [Read More]

I grew up in Tupper Lake and have lived in Saranac Lake for a while now, so it’s probably quite strange that I had never been to Mt. Pisgah. But finally last week, I was assigned to write a blog post about the Saranac Lake ski slope, so I headed on over one afternoon after work. That’s one of the best things about Mt. Pisgah: It's open most weekday evenings, and there's great lighting so... [Read More]

aka: A beginner’s guide to making a fool of yourself while having a great time trying out a new-to-you activity. The day was sunny and blue, perfect for loading up the Jeep for the quick hour drive to a local, super family-friendly, ski-mountain. Since we always love a good deal and we've never skied Titus Mountain in nearby Malone, when the North Country Chamber offered one of their Ski Day... [Read More]

African-Americans have never made up large percentages in any census of the Adirondacks. But they have also been welcomed in proportions much greater than their numbers. Saranac Lake has long been supportive when it comes to the unique challenges faced by the people of this particular immigrant group.DEPOT ON THE UNDERGROUND RAILROADThe Champlain Valley to the East had been settled by a strong-... [Read More]

Lots of Snow So We Can PlayAs usual, Wren and I have been cross-country skiing on a regular basis this winter as our snow, once a bit thin, has been piling up. One of our favorite places to go is the network of trails off of the Fish Pond Trail in Lake Clear. The trails there are designated cross-country skiing trails and they wind through beautiful deciduous and mixed forest and around the... [Read More]

People love to come to the Adirondacks to hike our forests, explore our ponds, and climb our mountains. But perhaps only Saranac Lake offers this wilderness experience in a compact and versatile package that is right in town.It's the Trifecta, and one of its charms is how we can hike through it, and back, two different ways. The different parts make it adaptable to any skill level, in any season... [Read More]

Looking for Exciting Winter BirdsWinter birding in this region is often a game of looking for very specific species, rather than it being about seeing lots of species in a single day. This year has been predicted to be a good year for Common Redpolls arriving from the north, but it has been difficult to find redpolls during the beginning of the winter. In the past week or so that has begun to... [Read More]

Saranac Lake is a wonderful destination for Nordic skiing. The rolling expanse of our lake country makes for scenic trails which run the whole range of challenges. From groomed cross-country paths with parking lots to beautiful backcountry locations, we have a trail for every taste. Dewey Mountain Saranac Lake has a hometown cross-country skiing complex at the edge of town. Half of the... [Read More]

The unique geography of the Adirondacks has created some distinctive cultural traditions. The remote location, rugged beauty, and abundant wilderness led the small village of Saranac Lake into ways of life we still observe today.Celebrate with us!WINTER CARNIVALOne thing we must have in our Winter Carnival is the Ice Palace -- our term for the amazing structure we create as a focus for the... [Read More]

 The “Side Hunt”Before 1900, birders took part in a holiday tradition called the Christmas “Side Hunt”. People would choose sides and head into the field with guns to see which group could bring back the most birds! Much of the nineteenth century saw ornithologists using guns not binoculars. If you wanted to see a bird, you picked up a gun and shot it.Conservation Movement BeginsAt the turn... [Read More]

It was just after Christmas and I was riding the traditional high that comes from the Holidays spent with family and friends and looking to keep that feeling going through to the New Year. Having recently learned one of our local lodges was going to be offering lantern lit sleigh rides this year, I figured there were few better ways to embrace winter and stay in the holiday spirit than taking... [Read More]